Month: May 2011
Sound of a Judas Priest on a Playground Fading
May 31, 2011 Shawn Macomber
In an typically astute review of the new In Flames disc Sounds of a Playground Fading penned for the issue of Decibel hitting stands right about now, Adrien Begrand argues — correctly, in my negligible opinion — that despite the Gothenburg quintet’s obvious (and occasionally egregious) missteps, far too much of the band’s post-Clayman output…
Plop Culture Dump O The Day: Happy Birthday Cee Lo Green
May 30, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Photo: Cee Lo Green, working out his Immortal aspirations. Perhaps our most high-profile Closet Metalhead to date, Cee Lo Green turns 37 today. I had the honor of interviewing him for Decibel #76, and in case you missed it (order it here), here’s an excerpt: When I was a kid, we would go out to…
Kim Carlsson [aka ( )] (Lifelover) interviewed.
May 27, 2011 Chris Dick
Most people are picking up on Lifelover at Konkurs due to the Prophecy re-issue. Is that a good starting point for people interested in Lifelover?Kim Carlsson: Definitely, even though any of our albums would be a good starting-point Konkurs involves many of our trademark elements, so if it’s followed by our current release Sjukdom the…
The Lazarus Pit: Korpse’s Pull the Flood
May 27, 2011 Jeff Treppel
Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you may not have ever heard of. Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for. This…
Away in the Sea of Red: Isis Remembers Isis Part 2
May 26, 2011 Shane Mehling
Our second eulogy for dearly departed Metalgazers Isis includes more reminiscing from the band, more photos (again thanks to Mark Dawursk) and an old school live clip from one of our favorite songs. Let’s get to it: Bryant Clifford Meyer (Electronics, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals) For some reason my memory has become slightly out of whack…
Coroner – “No More Color”
May 25, 2011 Kevin Stewart-Panko
The story of the creation of Coroner’s No More Color is one absent of any of the hardship, debauchery and/or numerous lineup changes that have plagued many of the albums previously anointed official badass status in our esteemed Hall.
Stars Now Beneath Their Feet: Isis Remembers Isis Part One
May 25, 2011 Shane Mehling
It’s been almost a year since thinking man’s metalheads Isis hung up the reverb pedals, but they have returned, in vinyl form, to celebrate their legacy. Five live albums are set to be released by the band, the first one coming at you this Tuesday, May 31st (pre-order here). And they have sent us video,…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Venom’s “Possessed”
May 25, 2011 Greg Moffitt
Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…
Ashmedi’s (Melechesh) biographical column & chaotic metaphysical thoughts, Part XVII
May 24, 2011 Chris Dick
Here I am back after a long silence. What can I say?! I naively thought I could be writing while on tour… I was wrong. For one, I was sick as a dog during the majority of the European tour, so for the most part the routine was: from bed to stage to bed. Day…
The Beast of the Apocalypse — “Henosis”
May 24, 2011 Shawn Macomber
There’s a whole lot of scary to live up to when one christens a band The Beast of the Apocalypse, but on Henosis these down and dirty Dutch black metallers give the Dark One a run for his money. The Dictionary of Spiritual Terms defines henosis as “the soul’s purification, accomplished primarily through philosophy, culminates…
STREAMING: Necrodeath “Awakening of Dawn”
May 23, 2011 Chris Dick
Metal is pervasive. It has no geographic restrictions. There are few countries worldwide—at least according to Metal Archives—that don’t have a grimace-faced metal act waiting to bash heads in and rebel against the shit that gets ‘em down. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of Italy’s Necrodeath at one point or another. In fact, you’ve probably…
Plop Culture Dump O the Day: Lady Gaga’s “Heavy Metal Lover”
May 23, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Photo: Redferns “I want your whiskey mouth all over my blonde south.” YES. Any song that starts out with a reference to a little ra-ra-ooh-la-la has our backing. Lady Gaga’s Born This Way has been leaking faster than Rush Limbaugh’s diaper, and one of the latest tracks to show up is “Heavy Metal Lover.” Typical…
For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week
May 20, 2011 Andrew Bonazelli
Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. What the squawk? With Judgment Day swiftly approaching (5-21-11, look it up), let me get these upcoming releases off of my beak. Earache will be releasing CEREBRAL BORE’s Maniacal Miscreation. Famous…
Vocal Covers? OK, What’s The Point?
May 20, 2011 Chris Dick
Tell me, kids. What’s with the vocal covers? I can understand bands doing covers of their favorite tunes. Been happening since the dawn of music, in fact. But dudes (and the occasional dudette) hanging out in their bedrooms—with mic in hand and webcam turned on—attempting to best their favorite growler for the world to see,…
Exclusive- Engineer: “The Idiot’s Theme”
May 19, 2011 Shane Mehling
“Underrated” is about as loaded a term as you can get when describing a band, but I truly believe that until Syracuse’s Engineer is invited to a renovated Total Request Live studio in Times Square they are not getting their due. It’s been four years since the noiserock quartet fucked a million faces with The…
Fucked Up Turns the Light Back On
May 18, 2011 Shane Mehling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dYWof3QZbQ I don’t particularly like Fucked Up but I do respect them. Their move from hardcore punk to anthemic art rock has never seem strained and gimmicks like their twelve-hour show asked more of them than anyone else in attendance. And furthermore on the topic of live shows, they always come through, much to the…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Autopsy’s “Shitfun”
May 18, 2011 Jonathan Horsley
Almost every band has that album: you know, the critically and/or commercially reviled dud in an otherwise passable-to-radical back catalog. Well, every Wednesday morning, a Decibel staffer or special guest will take to the Deciblog to bitch and moan at length as to why everybody’s full of shit and said dud is, in fact, The…
STREAMING: Nader Sadek “In the Flesh”
May 17, 2011 Chris Dick
New York City-based Nader Sadek has finally made the transition from conceptual artist to full-fledged recording artist on new album In the Flesh. Joining Sadek on his Season of Mist debut are Cryptopsy drummer Flo Mounier, ex-Morbid Angel frontman Steve Tucker, ex-Mayhem guitarist Rune Eriksen, Mayhem frontman Attila Csihar, Cattle Decapitation vocalist Travis Ryan, ex-Monstrosity…
Happy Tuesday, Goregrinders!
May 17, 2011 Shawn Macomber
Eligiendo Muerte, online clearinghouse for the Spanish translation of our fearless Editor-in-Chief’s landmark Choosing Death, is now hosting — in conjunction with Relapse Records and Bazillion Points — a stream of the nasty upcoming Haemorrhage full-length Hospital Carnage. Tumor donors, traumageddons, growls, blastbeats, breakdowns, flesh-devouring pandemia, splatter nurses — what are you waiting for?! And…
The Ocean Tour Vlog, Part I
May 16, 2011 Chris Dick
For aspiring young bands touring the U.S. isn’t a walk in the park. Now, bring those aspiring young bands over from Europe, where from what I can tell things are far more convenient and distances between points shorter, and nightly on-stage antics become not just a job but an ordeal. The Ocean evidently found out…
Plop Culture Dump O the Day: Hesher Likes It Dirty
May 16, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Hesher is a movie about Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, looking like a young, malnourished Phil Anselmo) who helps prepubescent T.J. endure the abject misery that is his life. Hesher does so by burning houses, walking around in his tighty-whiteys, and basically being a slovenly turd. “Cliff Burton was a big, big inspiration for my character,” Gordon-Levitt…
CONTEST: Win Weekend Nachos Swag! Send Nachos Recipes!
May 13, 2011 Chris Dick
Over a plate of tasty three cheese (Manchego, sharp cheddar, and Paški sir) nachos, the braniacs at Decibel thought it’d be quite rad to hear what you guys—i.e., our readership, those that think we’re peaches, those that think we’re fuckwads, etc.—concoct when you’re feeling the need to mow down on a slab of cheesy, chippy…
The Lazarus Pit: Labyrinth’s Return to Heaven Denied
May 13, 2011 Jeff Treppel
Welcome to The Lazarus Pit, a biweekly look at should-be classic metal records that don’t get nearly enough love, stuff that’s essential listening for students of extreme metal that you may not have ever heard of. Stuff that we’re too lazy to track down the band members to do a Hall Of Fame for. I’ve…
Oscar Dronjak’s (HammerFall) MMA Hammer of Justice, Part 11
May 12, 2011 Chris Dick
What: The Zone – InfernoWhen: May 7th, 2011 Where: Lisebergshallen, Göteborg, Sweden The card was headlined with three title matches: Lightweight, Welterweight and Middleweight, but before we go to that, there were some great moments! Lots of submissions, a head kick knock out and a women’s match that made you cringe (in a good, violent…
John Joseph, This is His Life
May 11, 2011 Shane Mehling
In a scheme akin to something Cosmo Kramer would cook up, Cro-Mag frontman John Joseph is now offering a gritty tour of the Lower East Side where he did much of his boozing, bruising and being a goddamn heroin mule. John Joseph who detailed his infamous life in his celebrated 2008 autobiography The Evolution Of…
Justify Your Shitty Taste: Melvins’ “The Colossus of Destiny”
May 11, 2011 Nick Green
There’s an old fake news headline from Buddyhead (I think) that applies to the task at hand, but I’m scrambling to source right now. The basic gist is “Mike Patton Takes a Shit on Microphone, Releases It,” and while that’s entirely fair to Mr. Patton, it also describes about 85 percent of the Ipecac catalog…
Plop Culture Dump O the Day: Thor Fans Reprazent
May 10, 2011 Jeanne Fury
Photo: Tony Swatton Thor reigned supreme this weekend, earning $65.7 million with his bulbous hammer. No one was more amped than a sector of humanity known as the Norse Hollywood Dining Vikings. These Viking enthusiasts showed up for the movie at a theater in Glendale, California—a hotbed of Norse activity if ever there was one….
STREAMING: Enslaved “Alu Misyrki”
May 10, 2011 Chris Dick
Today is a good day for Enslaved nerds (I’m one of them!). Scion AV, yes the company responsible for free, rules-all concerts with dream-like line-ups, and Enslaved have teamed up for The Sleeping Gods EP, an offshoot release from last year’s dB-approved Axioma Ethica Odini full-length. Comprised of five tracks spanning 28 minutes, The Sleeping…
STREAMING: Morbid Angel “Nevermore”
May 9, 2011 Chris Dick
Anticipation is a strange thing, man. Since frontman David Vincent re-joined longstanding death metallers Morbid Angel in 2004, fans from Chicago to the outermost regions of space have looked forward to the follow-up to non-David Vincent fronted Heretic. Actually, not just looked forwarded to, but debated endlessly and heatedly on Internet forums, in livingrooms, and…
For Those About to Squawk: Waldo’s Pecks of the Week
May 9, 2011 Andrew Bonazelli
Every other Friday, Waldo the African Grey Parrot, frontbird of thrash-grind immortals Hatebeak, will get you caught up on the week’s latest “extreme” releases. Okay, guys—I’d say ladies, too, but we ALL know squawking well that no women read this: Here’s some new birdshit for you for this bi-week, “bi” being the operative word on…